


Close

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Pokemon
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-27
Updated: 2006-03-27
Packaged: 2017-10-07 00:42:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even successful people sometimes get lonely. When that happens, sometimes it's a complete surprise who you get close to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Close

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the LJ community "het_challenge," prompt request by LJ user "rosehiptea." I haven't seen all of the episodes, so details about character history might not be quite right.

Misty sat in a back corner booth of her favorite restaurant. Ash and Brock had left earlier that day, and she couldn't quite take the silence of her apartment just then. She had enjoyed the visit, and had offered to let them stay longer. Ash had just handed over his manuscript with a grin and offered co-authorship in exchange for her editing skills. "You know me... I can't always think of the right words to say. But you're great at that."

Misty had laughed and took the manuscript for Ash's latest book on Pokemon training. "But then I'd have to join you on the book tour, and I'd rather stay near home."

"But it's great, Misty!" Brock had chimed in. "All the towns to visit, all the fans..."

"You mean all the girls," Misty had interrupted.

"Well, of course. I'm still looking for the girl of my dreams."

Misty had laughed along with them both as they left. They've known each other over ten years now, and the jokes never got old. It had been good to have them over to visit.

But now they were gone, the apartment was empty and Misty couldn't stand the silence. At least in the restaurant she could be alone but hear the sound of humanity around her. It was her usual retreat when friends weren't over.

She had marked up the first chapter throughout dinner. She sipped at her coffee and looked at her neat penmanship next to Ash's crooked typing. Some things never changed, no matter that they were adults now. Ash would constantly make whatever shortcuts he could so that he could spend more time battling. Brock would never settle down, and Misty was the steady one. She was stable, had a great job and gym leader and content.

So why did her life feel so empty?

Sighing, Misty paid for her food and bundled up the manuscript and her pens in her bag. She left the restaurant and began the walk back to her apartment. It was the same old thing on a different day, and she didn't pay too much attention to her surroundings.

It was probably why she slammed bodily into someone else, sending the manuscript flying.

"I'm so sorry!" Misty gasped, trying to pick up the pages. Great. Now she'd have to spend the rest of the night rearranging the pages.

The stranger was helping her pick them up as well, and was doing a better job of it. He even was straightening them out for her. "It's all right. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," he replied, smiling at her. There was something familiar about his voice, but Misty couldn't place it. Her head felt a little rattled enough as it was by the impact.

"Neither was I," she laughed.

"Well, here we go. I think it's all done. Do you need help carrying it home?"

"I should be all right," Misty said with a smile. She took back the pages with a smile and tried to shove them back into her bag.

"It's all right. I don't mind. I don't have anything else to do tonight."

The tone was familiar, the hopelessness of emptiness pulling at him. Misty took a good look at the stranger. He had small eyes and dark purple hair in a flattering cut around his face. There was something about him that was familiar, but Misty couldn't place it. "I'm Misty."

"That's pretty. I'm James."

Misty smiled at James. "I can't make the pages fit back in. I could use the help."

James collected the sheets for her, occasionally stopping to look over them. "You're writing a book?" he asked, amazed.

Misty laughed. "Oh no. My friend is. Not that he's all that brilliant either, but he's worse than I am at writing things." She shrugged, taking the sheets from James. "I never did like school very much when I was younger. I still don't."

He laughed along with her. "I'm glad to say I never went."

"Oh? Did you participate in the Pokemon tournaments?"

James smiled ruefully. "Sort of. It was just my sister and myself, really. We took care of each other, did what we could."

She watched him stand, a handful of manuscript sheets in hand. Misty rose as well. "And now what are you up to?"

James shrugged. "I was waiting for someone... I don't think anyone is going to show up. Shall I walk you home?"

Misty flushed slightly. "Oh, you really don't have to..."

He bowed in a gallant and elegant fashion, making her giggle nervously. "On the contrary, my dear lady, it would be my honor to escort you back to your home."

"In that case..." Misty laid a hand on James' outstretched arm. "I don't live far away."

"The least I can do is help a pretty girl walk home in the dark."

He wasn't looking straight at her, and Misty was glad of that. A blush had risen along her cheeks at the compliment. She was glad she hadn't tied her hair up in girlish pigtails today. Most of the time she didn't feel as if she was an adult, but suddenly she was aware of it. James was tall and thin, almost painfully so. Misty didn't want him to think of her as some helpless little girl but as a woman who could take care of herself.

"Want to come in?" she asked, not believing the words actually fell from her lips when she heard them. She didn't invite strange people into her home...

He smiled. "Sure."

James looked around her living room while Misty put the manuscript pages away. She would have to reorder them; thankfully, Ash had scribbled the page numbers in the top right corner of each sheet. He was smiling at the pictures of herself with Ash, Brock and the friends they had made over the years. He reached out and touched the ones with pokemon in them, but hesitated just over the glass protecting the photos from dust.

"It was fun, traveling around like that," Misty said, coming up behind him. "We met so many incredible people that way."

"It looks like it," James murmured, almost to himself. He turned away from the photos and smiled gently at Misty. "You had a lot of friends."

She grinned. "They're all so wonderful. They come and visit from time to time, but I think I'm done traveling. How about you? Have you thought about going back to the training circuit, or are you done with pokemon?"

He looked down at the floor slightly. "I don't know. It's been a long time now, I think I've forgotten how to train them."

"Well, what type did you have? I tended to have water pokemon..."

"I know."

"Huh?"

James looked up and smiled easily. "I can see them in the pictures."

Misty laughed easily. "Would you like a drink? The least I can do since you walked me home."

"Thank you."

When Misty returned with a glass, she found him staring at her pokemon photos again. "Where are you living now?"

Startled, James whirled around. "Oh... I'm in the boarding house at the end of town."

"Really? Not too many people live there anymore."

"No, they don't. It's just me and the owner."

"You were waiting for someone?"

James sipped at the water in the glass and sat down on the couch. "It's been a while."

Misty cocked her head to the side. "Who were you waiting for?"

"My sister."

"Oh? I'm so sorry... I shouldn't keep you, then..."

"It's okay." His tone was so mournful that Misty sank down onto the couch next to him. "I'm used to it. She's done this before."

"What do you mean? Was she late?"

"Five months too late," James said bitterly. He saw her startled expression and realized he had spoken out loud. He shrugged and sipped at the water again. "It doesn't matter."

"Sure it does. Where is she? Can I help you look for her? What if something happened to her?"

James smiled at her easily. "You don't even know her."

"But if she's missing...."

"I don't even know. She's done this before...." James' voice trailed off. "It's always just been the two of us. We tried our best, but no one seemed to care before anyway. She started leaving to try and get jobs without me..." He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I can wait."

"But that's so cruel!"

"Jessie's like that sometimes."

Misty's eyes grew round. Suddenly everything clicked into place. "As in, Team Rocket?"

He smiled at her ruefully. "We wanted to be, but even they never liked us much."

She blinked in surprise. "What? But we always thought..."

"I know." James put the glass down on the coffee table and started to stand up. "It's all right. She told me to meet her at that restaurant. She's done this before. Eventually she'll meet me there, and she'll lead me on a chase somewhere else."

The tone of his voice was so defeated, it was breaking Misty's heart. She grabbed his hand. "Sit, James. Stay a bit. You don't have to wait for someone that won't show up."

"Today may be the day," he murmured, allowing her to pull him back down. "I never know when she's had enough of traveling."

"It sounds lonely."

He gave her a fake smile, one she was startled to realize she saw in her own mirror sometimes. "I am just fine. I'll be okay."

"You don't sound okay."

His smile died slowly. "I worry sometimes. But she'll be all right. She always is."

"And what about you?"

James shrugged. "I'll be fine. I'll be okay. I always am."

Misty squeezed his hand tightly. "I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about. I'm used to it. We've done this for years. It's not as bad as it sounds, really, Misty." He smiled at her, though she could see the touch of sadness in it. "The pokemon like her best, anyway."

On impulse, Misty touched his face gently. He sounded so alone, so pained, and she didn't know what to say. She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the mouth.

He stared at her when she pulled back. "Misty?"

"I guess... I don't know. But no one deserves to be that lonely, James. Stay here."

James gave her a sad smile. "I don't need pity."

"It's not that... Sometimes it's enough just to be close to somebody, to be less alone." Misty let her hand drop from his face. "It doesn't matter. You can leave if you want to."

"I don't want to." He leaned forward and kissed her back, soft at first. When he encountered no resistance, James deepened the kiss. She was right, he realized. Sometimes it wasn't enough to tell yourself you weren't lonely. Sometimes you had to feel it, you had to be close to someone else to really drive it away. He was hungry when he kissed her, his arms snaking around her to keep her close. He stroked her lips with his tongue before beginning to suck on them. This was being connected to someone, this was _feeling_ someone else, this was _being close to someone_. James hadn't felt that way about anyone before.

When the kiss ended, neither moved. Their heads were still pressed close. It wasn't about sex, wasn't about love, wasn't about anything but needing to hold someone else.

"You can stay with me for a little if you like," Misty offered.

He would forget if he did, and even Jessie didn't deserve to be abandoned like that. _But you do?_ he asked himself. James tamped that down.

"I'll still have to go back and wait for her."

"I know." Misty dropped her head into the curve of his neck. "But for a little while."

"A little while," James agreed, arms tight around her. "In the morning we can go back to being strangers again."

"Or you can stay a friend," Misty murmured. "You can never have too many friends."

"I've only ever had Jessie as a friend," James replied. _We all know how that ended,_ he wanted to say. He remained silent, inhaling the scent of Misty's hair.

"Then I can be your other friend," Misty said, arms tightening around James. "We can meet for dinner or something, and when Jessie comes back, she'll join us."

James tried to imagine Jessie and Misty talking, and couldn't do it. "I don't think she'd like you very much," James said honestly.

"But I'd be your friend, not hers. I'd keep you company, and you can keep me company. I hate eating dinner alone in there."

James shut his eyes and breathed deeply. Having a friend might be nice.

"Sure. I'll meet you tomorrow, then. Seven o'clock is okay?"

"Yeah." James could hear the relief in her voice and wondered at it. "I'd love to."

When it felt right, James let Misty go. He was amazed to see it was nearly midnight. "I've stayed too long," he murmured, giving Misty a sad smile. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not," Misty said with a grin. She gave James a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He found himself returning her grin, his first real smile in months. James nodded at her, pausing just at the edge of her front door. "Seven o'clock."

"Seven," Misty agreed. "I remember. I'll be there."

James kept grinning as he went down her front steps. "Me, too. Good night, Misty," he said, turning and waving.

"Good night," Misty said, waving.

When Misty shut her door, it didn't seem to sound so final. For the first time in a long time, the empty living room didn't feel so empty.

Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

End.


End file.
